Corporate News

DEAG remains resilient to COVID-19 pandemic

- EBITDA in the first half of 2021 at EUR 9.0 million / sales of EUR 7.4 million

- Well positioned to continue on its growth course after the end of the pandemic and entry into new markets

- Re-start in the event sector begins / conditions to return to normal in 2022 with promising prospects for DEAG

Berlin, 27 August 2021 - DEAG Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft ("DEAG") increased its earnings in the first half of financial year 2021 despite the pandemic-related slump in sales. Sales revenues amounted to EUR 7.4 million in the first six months. Sales revenues in the same period of last year, which was only partially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, totalled EUR 31.7 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) turned to around EUR 9.0 million in the first half of the year, compared to EUR -0.3 million in the same period of last year. The increase in earnings is attributable to DEAG's fully comprehensive insurance coverage and payments from pandemic-related support programmes that DEAG received in its core markets. In addition, as part of the Group's broad cost-cutting programme, costs were reduced by a third compared to pre-pandemic levels. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in the reporting period were EUR 5.0 million (previous year: EUR -4.2 million) and the Group result after taxes was EUR 1.3 million (previous year: EUR -5.9 million).

DEAG is expecting business activity in Germany and Switzerland to return to normal in the fourth quarter of 2021. Preparations for the successful Christmas Garden format are already in full swing. The Christmas Garden is to be expanded to 16 locations in the 2021/2022 season. New additions will include the Christmas Garden in Paris, the first such event in France. DEAG is already seeing very good demand for tickets for the Christmas Garden and expects a total of over 1 million visitors for the 16 locations. In the UK, DEAG already expects business activity to increasingly return to normal in the current third quarter. Concerts are already taking place there again at full capacity. In August, DEAG staged two concerts with the cult band Gorillaz at London's "The O2 Arena." These were the first concerts at the venue in 17 months. For financial year 2021, which DEAG continues to regard as a transition year due to the pandemic, the company is anticipating significant increases in sales and operating EBITDA compared to the previous year.

Prof. Peter L. H. Schwenkow: "In view of the de facto occupational ban on DEAG and the entire live entertainment industry, which has now been in place for more than a year and continues to exist to a large extent, at least in Germany, we are relatively satisfied with how the business developed in the first half of the year. In the first six months, we set the course for DEAG's long-term growth as part of our M&A strategy and intend to continue to play an active role in the consolidation of the European live entertainment industry and drive our growth through M&A in the future. With this in mind, we have commissioned a renowned US investment bank to identify further potential investors for DEAG and to hold the respective negotiations. According to current situation we expect our business activities to return completely to normal then in 2022 and are already excellently positioned in the medium term for further growth in the events sector, even outside the music business."

DEAG also announces that the company's Supervisory Board has prematurely extended the Management Board contract with the incumbent CFO Roman Velke by a further three years until 31 March 2025.

The complete half-year financial report will be available for download on the company's website in the "Investor Relations" section during the day on 27 August 2021.

About DEAG

DEAG Deutsche Entertainment AG (DEAG) is a leading entertainment service company and provider of live entertainment in Europe. DEAG has been present with its Group companies at 15 locations in its core markets of Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Ireland and Denmark. As a live entertainment service provider with an integrated business model, DEAG has extensive expertise in the planning, organization, marketing and promoting events.

Founded in Berlin in 1978, DEAG's core businesses today include Rock/Pop, Classics & Jazz, Family Entertainment, Arts+Exhibitions and Ticketing. Family Entertainment and Arts+Exhibitions are the elementary building blocks for the further development of DEAG's own content.

In 2019 - before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic -, more than 5 million tickets were sold annually for over 4,000 events - a continuously growing share of these were sold via the Group's own e-commerce platforms "MyTicket" und "Gigantic.com" for its own and third-party content.

Through its strong partner network, DEAG is excellently positioned in the market as an internationally active Live Entertainment service provider.

Investor & Public Relations
Axel Mühlhaus, edicto GmbH
Eschersheimer Landstraße 42
60322 Frankfurt am Main
Phone: 0049 69 905505-52
email: deag@edicto.de